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On this day: August 26

2004: Singer-songwriter and actress Laura Branigan, best known for the top-10 1980s hits "Gloria," "Self Control" and "Solitaire," dies in her sleep from a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm at age 47 in East Quogue, New York.

1993: Actress and singer Keke Palmer, best known for the Nickelodeon sitcom "True Jackson, VP," and for movies such as "Barbershop 2: Back in Business," "Akeelah and the Bee," "Madea's Family Reunion," "The Longshots" and "Joyful Noise," is born in Harvey, Illinois.

1986: Actor Ted Knight, best known for his TV roles on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Too Close for Comfort," and for playing Judge Elihu Smails in "Caddyshack," dies of complications of surgery for colorectal cancer at age 62 in Glendale, California.

1981: Roger Nash Baldwin, the co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, dies of heart failure at age 97 in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Baldwin served as executive director of the ACLU from its formation until 1950 and many of the organization's original landmark cases took place under his direction, including the Scopes Trial, the Sacco and Vanzetti murder trial, and its challenge to the ban on James Joyce's "Ulysses."

1980: Cartoonist Tex Avery, best known for creating the characters of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Droopy and Screwy Squirrel, dies of liver cancer at age 72 in Burbank, California. Avery, who did his most significant work for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, was also known for developing Porky Pig and Chilly Willy into the personas that are remembered for today.

1980: Actor Macaulay Culkin, best known for playing Kevin McCallister in "Home Alone" and "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," is born in New York City. Culkin has also starred in movies like "Richie Rich," "Uncle Buck," "My Girl," "The Pagemaster" and "Saved!"

1980: Actor Chris Pine, best known for playing Capt. James T. Kirk in the 2009 film "Star Trek" and its sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness," is born in Los Angeles, California. Pine has also starred in movies like "Just My Luck," "Smokin' Aces," "Unstoppable," "This Means War" and "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" (pictured).

1978: The Papal conclave of August 1978 chooses Cardinal Albino Luciani, then Patriarch of Venice, as the new pope to succeed Pope Paul VI. Luciani chose the regnal name of Pope John Paul I, but would die from a heart attack at age 65 just 33 days later. His reign was among the shortest in papal history and he was also the first pope to be born in the 20th century and the last pope to die in it.

1977: German-born illustrator and writer H.A. Rey, best known for the "Curious George" series of children's picture books that he and his wife Margret Rey created from 1939 to 1966, dies at age 78 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1974: Aviator Charles Lindbergh, the first pilot to fly nonstop from New York to Paris, dies of lymphoma at age 72 in Kipahulu, Maui, Hawaii. Lindbergh made his historic solo flight on May 20-21, 1927, in the single-seat, single-engine monoplane Spirit of St. Louis. A U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve officer, he was also awarded the nation's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his historic exploit.

1970: To mark the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, NOW holds the Women’s Strike for Equality. The day included demonstrations and rallies in more than 90 cities in 42 states, including 50,000 women marching down Fifth Avenue in New York City. Nationwide, more than 100,000 women were involved.

1970: Actress Melissa McCarthy, best known for the TV series "Gilmore Girls," "Samantha Who?" and "Mike & Molly," and movies like "Bridesmaids," "Identity Thief" and "The Heat," is born in Plainfield, Illinois.

1969: Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" is released as a single. It reached No. 1 in the United States in early November and would be Presley's final No. 1 single in the U.S. before his death.

1968: Actress Kay Francis, who was the No. 1 female star at the Warner Brothers studio and the highest-paid American film actress in the early 1930s, dies of breast cancer at age 63 in New York City. She starred in movies like "Girls About Town," "Trouble in Paradise," "24 Hours," "I Found Stella Parrish," "Secrets of an Actress" and "Comet Over Broadway."

1968: The Beatles release the single "Hey Jude," their first record under their new Apple label, in the United States. It would be released four days later in the United Kingdom. The record's B-side was "Revolution."

1966: Singer-songwriter and actress Shirley Manson, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Garbage, is born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson is nominated for a term of office in his own right at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

1960: Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Branford Marsalis, known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, is born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. From 1992 to 1995, Branford was the leader of The Tonight Show Band on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

1959: The Morris Mini-Minor is introduced by the British Motor Corporation. The car, popularly known as the Mini, remains successful over five decades later.

1950: Ransom Eli Olds, the pioneer of the American automotive industry for whom both the Oldsmobile and REO brands were named, dies at age 86 in Lansing, Michigan. Olds founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing in 1897. The modern assembly line and its basic concept is also credited to Olds, who used it to build the first mass-produced automobile, the Oldsmobile Curved Dash, beginning in 1901.

1944: A day after the successful liberation of Paris, France, Charles de Gaulle leads a victory parade down the Champs-Élysées.

1939: Major-league baseball is televised for the first time when experimental station W2XBS broadcasts a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.

1935: Geraldine Ferraro, who became the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket in 1984 as Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale's running mate, is born in Newburgh, New York. Ferraro was a three-term congresswoman from Queens, New York, when Mondale chose her to join his ticket against incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush. Ferraro also ran for the U.S. Senate in 1992 and 1998, both times losing in the primary election, and served as a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1993 to 1996 in President Bill Clinton's administration. She died at age 75 on March 26, 2011, while being treated for complications of blood cancer.

1930: Actor Lon Chaney Sr., best known for his starring roles in such silent horror films as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Phantom of the Opera," dies of a throat hemorrhage at age 47 in Los Angeles, California. The previous year he had been diagnosed with bronchial lung cancer, which was exacerbated when artificial snow lodged in his throat during filming and quickly created a serious infection. His ability to transform his appearance using his specially developed makeup techniques earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces."

1910: Missionary and humanitarian Mother Teresa, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, is born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Ottoman Empire. She died at age 87 on Sept. 5, 1997.

1906: Albert Sabin (pictured at right), the medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine in 1955, is born Albert Saperstein in Bia?ystok, Russian Empire. Sabin's vaccine effectively eliminated polio from the United States. He's seen here in 1985 with Robert C. Gallo (left), best known for his work with HIV and AIDS.

1791: John Fitch is granted a United States patent for the steamboat. The American inventor, clockmaker, entrepreneur and engineer constructed the first steamboat in the United States.

1743: Antoine Lavoisier, widely considered to be the "father of modern chemistry," is born in Paris, France. Lavoisier named both oxygen and hydrogen and predicted silicon. He also helped construct the metric system, put together the first extensive list of elements, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature.

1740: Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, the co-inventor of the hot air balloon with his brother Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, is born in Annonay, Ardèche, France. The brothers succeeded in launching the first manned hot air balloon ascent, carrying Étienne, in 1783.

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